POUVOIR MILITAIRE ET GOUVERNANCE DEMOCRATIQUE EN AFRIQUE FRANCOPHONE : UNE TENSIN PHILOSOPHIQUE

This article examines the philosophical tension between military power and democratic governance in French-speaking Africa, revealing a fundamental contradiction in the post-colonial state. It contrasts two incompatible rationalities: democracy, based on law, deliberation and consent, and military logic, structured by hierarchy, obedience and coercion. It contrasts two incompatible rationalities: democracy, based on law, deliberation and consent, and military logic, structured by hierarchy,obedience and coercion.Military regimes legitimize themselves by presenting themselves as soldier-therapists in the face of the failure of civilian elites, a rhetoric rooted in the colonial legacy of violence. The solution lies in a philosophical overhaul of civil-military relations, through the republican professionalisation of the army and the strengthening of civilian institutions, to ensure the definitive subordination of force to law and to anchor legitimacy in popular consent rather than coercion.